Interactive graphical representation of a market for an electronic trading system

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for providing an interactive graphical representation of a market for an electronic trading system are provided. A graph may be displayed on a display of a workstation in an electronic trading system. In one example, the graph may include a curve corresponding to a range of values of a financial instrument. In another example, the graph may include symbols that represent bids and offers for one or more financial instruments. A user may be allowed to select a portion of the graph. In response to the user&#39;s selection, a trading dialog box may be provided, thereby allowing the user to place a trade directly from the graph.

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/306,996, filed Nov. 27, 2002, which is hereby incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to systems and methods for providing agraphical representation of a market. More particularly, the presentinvention relates to systems and methods for providing an interactivegraphical representation of a market for an electronic trading systemthat allows a user to, for example, place a trade directly from thegraphical representation.

Electronically-based trading systems have gained widespread popularityover the years. Such trading systems are frequently used for tradingitems ranging from financial instruments (such as stocks, bonds,currency, futures contracts, etc.) to used household goods (such as oldrecords, baseball cards, antiques, etc.). In many of these tradingsystems, bid/offer-hit/lift processes are used to negotiate a sale of agiven item. In connection with such processes, bids and/or offers foritems are entered into an electronic trading system, and a hit or liftis submitted in response to a bid or offer, respectively, to agree to asale or purchase.

Currently, prior to entering a bid or offer into an electronic tradingsystem or submitting a hit or lift in response to a specific bid oroffer, traders can review trading-related information in a tabularformat. For example, the trader can access a table that includes a listof financial instruments and corresponding bids and offers for each ofthe instruments. Based on the information provided to the trader in thetable, the trader can determine, for example, what bids or offers toenter into the electronic trading system or which existing bids andoffers are desirable to hit or lift. However, these determinations canbe difficult due to the overwhelming amount of information provided tothe trader in the table.

Currently, traders can also access graphical representations offinancial markets to gain an overall understanding of a market'sactivity. Graphs, in contrast to tables of financial information, makeit easier for the trader to determine market trends. However, thesegraphs are not interactive, as the trader is only provided with arepresentation of the current activity of a market and is not able toenter a bid or offer or submit a hit or lift directly from the graph.

Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide systems and methods forproviding an interactive graphical representation of a market for anelectronic trading system that allows a user to, for example, place atrade directly from the graphical representation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, systems and methods forproviding an interactive graphical representation of a market for anelectronic trading system that allows a user to, for example, place atrade directly from the graphical representation are provided.

In some embodiments of the present invention, a graph having a firstaxis and a second axis may be displayed on a display of a workstation.In one example, the graph may include a curve corresponding to a rangeof values of a financial instrument. In another example, the graph mayinclude a plurality of first symbols and a plurality of second symbols.Each first symbol of the plurality of first symbols may correspond to abid for a financial instrument. Each second symbol of the plurality ofsecond symbols may correspond to an offer for a financial instrument. Auser may be allowed to select a portion of the graph. In response to theuser selection of the portion of the graph, a trading dialog box may bedisplayed on the display of the workstation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further features of the present invention, its nature, and variousadvantages will be more apparent from the following detailed descriptionof the preferred embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which like reference characters refer to like partsthroughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative electronic tradingsystem suitable for implementation of a graphical trading interfaceapplication in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a workstation, a server, and a backoffice clearing center that may be used to implement the processes andfunctions of some embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a graphical trading interface that may be provided to a userby the graphical trading interface application in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 4 is a graphical trading interface, such as the interface shown inFIG. 3, having a selectable date range overlay in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 5 is another graphical trading interface that may be provided tothe user by the graphical trading interface application in accordancewith the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a graphical trading interface, such as the interface shown inFIG. 5, having a trading information overlay in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 7 is a graphical trading interface, such as the interface shown inFIG. 5, having a trading dialog box overlay in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 8 is yet another graphical trading interface that may be providedto the user by the graphical trading interface application in accordancewith the present invention;

FIG. 9 is still another graphical trading interface that may be providedto the user by the graphical trading interface application in accordancewith the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a graphical trading interface, such as the interface shown inFIG. 9, having a trading dialog box overlay in accordance with thepresent invention; and

FIG. 11 is a flow chart of illustrative steps involved in providing aninteractive graphical representation of a market in accordance with thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative electronic tradingsystem 100 suitable for implementation of a graphical trading interfaceapplication in accordance with the present invention. As shown in theFIG., system 100 may include one or more workstations 102. Workstations102 may be local or remote. Workstations 102 are connected by one ormore communication links 104 to communications network 106 that isconnected via communication link 108 to server 110. Server 110 isconnected via communication link 112 to back office clearing center 114.

Server 110 may be any server suitable for providing access to thegraphical trading interface application, such as a processor, acomputer, a data processing device, or a combination of such devices. Inone example, server 110 may be a server powered by eSpeed, Inc. Server110 and back office clearing center 114 may form part of the electronictrading system. Furthermore, server 110 may contain the graphicaltrading interface application and merely transmit a graphical userinterface (GUI) or other display screens to a user at a userworkstation, such as workstation 102.

Communications network 106 may be any suitable communications networkincluding the Internet, an intranet, a wide-area network (WAN), alocal-area network (LAN), a wireless network, a digital subscriber line(DSL) network, a frame relay network, an asynchronous transfer mode(ATM) network, a virtual private network (VPN), a public switchedtelephone network, any other suitable communications network, or acombination of such networks. Communication links 104 and 108 may be anycommunication links suitable for communicating data between workstations102 and server 110, such as network links, dial-up links, wirelesslinks, any other suitable communication link, or a combination of suchlinks.

Workstations 102 may include, for example, any suitable personalcomputer (PC), mainframe computer, dumb terminal, data display, two-waypager, wireless terminal, portable telephone, portable computer (e.g., anotebook computer), palmtop computer, handheld personal computer (H/PC),automobile PC, personal digital assistant (PDA), Internet-enabledcellular phone, combined cellular phone and PDA, any other suitablecomputing device, or a combination of such devices. Workstations 102 maybe used to implement the graphical trading interface application inaccordance with the present invention.

Back office clearing center 114 may be any suitable equipment, such as acomputer, a laptop computer, a mainframe computer, any other suitablecomputing device, or a combination of such computing devices, forcausing transactions to be cleared and/or verifying that transactionsare cleared. Communication link 112 may be any communication linksuitable for communicating data between server 110 and back officeclearing center 114, such as a network link, a dial-up link, a wirelesslink, a hard-wired link, or any other suitable communication link.

Server 110, back office clearing center 114, and a workstation 102,which are depicted in FIG. 1, are illustrated in more detail in FIG. 2.Referring to FIG. 2, workstation 102 may include processor 202, display204, input device 206, and memory 208, which may be interconnected. In apreferred embodiment, memory 208 contains a storage device for storing aworkstation program for controlling processor 202. Memory 208 alsopreferably contains a graphical trading interface application 210 inaccordance with the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, graphical trading interface application 210 mayinclude application program interface 212. Alternatively, as describedabove, graphical trading interface application 210 may be resident inthe memory of server 110. In such embodiments, the electronic tradingsystem may contain graphical trading interface application 210 andapplication program interface 212 as an application that is discretefrom the electronic trading application, which also may be includedtherein. The only distribution to the user may be a GUI which allows theuser to interact with graphical trading interface application 210resident at server 110.

Processor 202 uses the workstation program to present on display 204,for example, graphical trading interface information received throughcommunication link 104 and trading commands and values transmitted by atrader at workstation 102. Furthermore, input device 206 may be used tomanually enter commands and values to be communicated to the electronictrading system.

Server 110 may include processor 220, display 222, input device 224, andmemory 226, which may be interconnected. In a preferred embodiment,memory 226 contains a storage device for storing information relating tomarket conditions received through communication link 108 or throughother links, and also receives trading commands and values transmittedby one or more users. The storage device further contains a serverprogram for controlling processor 220. Processor 220 uses the serverprogram to transact the purchase and sale of financial instruments.

Back office clearing center 114 may include processor 228, display 230,input device 232, and memory 234, which may be interconnected. In apreferred embodiment, memory 234 contains a storage device for storing aclearing program for controlling processor 228. Processor 228 may usethe clearing program to complete the transactions that are entered intoby the users. Processor 228 uses the clearing program to further verifythat the transactions are completed and cleared.

It should be noted that the present invention is primarily describedherein in terms of an electronic trading application. It will beunderstood that the electronic trading application may be any suitablesoftware, hardware, or both configured to implement the features of thepresent invention. In one suitable approach, the electronic tradingapplication may be located at a central location (e.g., a centralserver, such as server 110). In another suitable approach, theelectronic trading application may reside among different locations(e.g., a network).

In one particular embodiment, the electronic trading application mayinclude client-side software, hardware, or both. For example, theelectronic trading application may encompass one or more Web pages orWeb page portions (e.g., via any suitable encoding, such as HyperTextMarkup Language (HTML), Dynamic HyperText Markup Language (DHTML),Extensible Markup Language (XML), JavaServer Pages (JSP), Active ServerPages (ASP), or any other suitable approaches).

Furthermore, although the electronic trading application is describedherein as being implemented on user computer equipment, this is onlyillustrative. As described hereinabove, the electronic tradingapplication may be implemented on any suitable platform (e.g., PC,mainframe computer, dumb terminal, data display, two-way pager, wirelessterminal, portable telephone, portable computer, palmtop computer, H/PC,automobile PC, PDA, Internet-enabled cellular phone, combined cellularphone and PDA, etc.) to provide such features.

In accordance with the present invention, systems and methods forproviding an interactive graphical representation of a market for anelectronic trading system are provided. As described hereinabove, anindividual is better suited to determine a pattern on a graph than in atable of information. Thus, the systems and methods of the presentinvention take advantage of this ability in order to facilitate thetrading of financial instruments. Financial instruments may include, forexample, fixed income related instruments (e.g., United StatesTreasuries, United Kingdom Gilts, European Government bonds, andEmerging Market debts, swaps, and repos), securities, stocks,currencies, etc. The examples provided hereinbelow are related to thetrading of fixed income related instruments. However, these examples aremerely illustrative, and the systems and methods of the presentinvention may be used in connection with any suitable financialinstrument.

FIG. 3 shows a graphical trading interface that may be provided to auser by the graphical trading interface application in accordance withthe present invention. (It should be noted that the terms “user” and“trader,” in reference to a participant in an electronic trading system,are used interchangeably herein.) In general, graphical tradinginterface 300, or simply graph 300, provides a user with a graphicalrepresentation of a market. In other words, any financial instrumenthaving two or more related parameters that can be “plotted” on a graphmay be provided to the user in graph 300. The financial information usedto create graph 300 may be information that is typically stored in atabular format (e.g., a spreadsheet). In the example shown in FIG. 3,graph 300 includes a “U.S. Agency and Treasury Curve” (as shown indrop-down title box 301). The user may be provided with a number ofdifferent graphs from which to choose. For example, the user may selectdrop-down title box 301 to access a list of possible graphs (not shown).The user may select drop-down title box 301 by using an input device(e.g., input device 206 of FIG. 2) such as a mouse, keyboard, or anyother suitable input device.

Graph 300 has a first axis 302 and a second axis 304. As describedhereinabove, axes 302 and 304 represent two related parameters inconnection with the financial instrument curves shown in graph 300. Inthis example, first axis 302 represents the maturity date for afinancial instrument, and second axis 304 represents the yield of afinancial instrument. (It should be noted that the values shown alongsecond axis 304 (e.g., “1,” “2,” “3,” etc.) represent yield as apercentage, and therefore a yield of “1” is actually a yield of “1%.”)However, these examples are merely illustrative, and axes 302 and 304may represent any suitable parameters in connection with a financialinstrument. For example, instead of representing the yield of afinancial instrument, second axis 304 could represent the price of afinancial instrument.

As shown, graph 300 has two curves 306 and 308. In the example shown,curve 306 represents United States Agencies and curve 308 representsUnited States Treasuries. Thus, graph 300 shows the relationship betweenUnited States Agencies curve 306 and United States Treasuries curve 308.More generally, graph 300 shows the “spread” between United StatesAgencies and United States Treasuries over maturity dates (i.e., firstaxis 302). This spread may be of particular importance to a trader, asUnited States Treasuries are typically considered a “yardstick” by whichto measure the value of United States Agencies. It should be noted thatthe present example of a spread is merely illustrative. The presentinvention may provide other yardsticks in connection with financialinstruments, such as, for example, an option adjusted spread (OAS) forcallable bonds, net basis and “optionality Greeks” for deliverablebonds, weighted average life and maturity for mortgage-backed securities(MBS), forward spreads based on repo, rates for forward “structures” ofsynthetic borrowing or lending, etc.

Preferably, the curves shown in graph 300 are updated in real-time. Inother words, the curves shown in graph 300 are updated as the graphicaltrading interface application keeps up with some activity (e.g., changesin the yield of a financial instrument, changes in available bids oroffers for financial instruments, etc.). In one example, the graphicaltrading interface application may receive information in connection withsome activity from a trading platform that forms a portion of theelectronic trading system (e.g., eSpeed™ trading platform). In anotherexample, the graphical trading interface application may receiveinformation in connection with some activity from an external source,such as a different trading platform or a financial market ticker. Themarket ticker may include, for example, information in connection withthe trading platform that forms a portion of the electronic tradingsystem of the present invention, in addition to information inconnection with other trading platforms.

The user may be able to “zoom into” an area of interest on graph 300. Inone example, first axis 302 may be divided into discrete portions, or“vertical columns,” of a fixed width. In this example, in which firstaxis 302 represents the maturity date, the fixed width is a length oftime, such as one year, two years, etc. When a user selects a portion ofgraph 300 using, for example, an input device (e.g., input device 206 ofFIG. 2), the user is actually selecting a particular vertical column ofa fixed width. More specifically, the point on graph 300 that the userselects is actually along a “center axis” of the vertical column. In theexample shown, the user has selected a point on graph 300 that is alongthe center axis of column 310. Column 310 defines the span of maturitydates for United States Agency curve 306 and United States Treasurycurve 308 from February 2008 to October 2010. It should be noted that,although this example is described in terms of vertical columns,“horizontal columns” could also be defined by dividing second axis 304into discrete portions using the principles described hereinabove.

In another example, shown in FIG. 4, the user may select the desiredwidth of first axis 302 for zooming into an area of interest in graph300. When the user selects a portion of graph 300 using, for example, aninput device (e.g., input device 206 of FIG. 2), a selectable date rangeoverlay 400 may be displayed on graph 300. The user may enter a startdate in field 402 and an end date in field 404. The user may submit thestart and end dates by selecting go button 406. In the example shown,the user has entered “02/08” in start field 402 and “10/10” in end field404. These entries correspond to a range of maturity dates for UnitesStates Agencies curve 306 and United States Treasuries curve 308 fromFebruary 2008 to October 2010. Although overlay 400 as shown in FIG. 4provides a user with fields 402 and 404 corresponding to start and enddates, respectively, this example is merely illustrative. Fields 402 and404 of overlay 400 may correspond to any suitable parameter representedby first axis 302, thereby setting a width of the first axis for zoominginto graph 300. Also, as stated hereinabove in connection with FIG. 3,overlay 400 may also be used to select a width of second axis 304 forzooming into graph 300.

FIG. 5 shows a graphical trading interface that may be provided to auser by the graphical trading interface application in accordance withthe present invention. Graphical trading interface 500, or simply graph500, may be provided, for example, in response to a user zooming intograph 300 (as described hereinabove in reference to FIGS. 3 and 4).Graph 500 shows a range of maturity dates for Unites States Agenciescurve 506 from February 2008 to October 2010.

In this example, first axis 502 of graph 500 represents the maturitydate for a financial instrument (as in, for example, FIG. 3), and secondaxis 504 represents the spread between the yields of financialinstruments. For example, second axis 504 may represent the spreadbetween the yields for curves 306 and 308 of FIG. 3. (It should be notedthat the values shown along second axis 504 (e.g., “40.00,” “45.00,”“50.00,” etc.) must be multiplied by a factor of 10⁻² to relate thevalues shown along second axis 504 to the values shown along second axis304 of FIG. 3.) Thus, in the example of FIG. 5, United States Treasuriescurve 308 of FIG. 3 is not shown. This is because, as statedhereinabove, second axis 504 represents the spread between United StatesAgencies curve 306 and United States Treasuries curve 308. However, theexample of FIG. 5 is merely illustrative, and United States Treasuriescurve 308 (or any other suitable yardstick curve) may be provided.

Graph 500 is shown as having two axes (i.e., first axis 502 and secondaxis 504). However, the example of FIG. 5 is merely illustrative, andgraph 500 may have any suitable number of axes (e.g., one, two, three,etc.). (An illustrative example of a graph that is a “singularity,”thereby having only one axis, is described hereinbelow in reference toFIG. 8.)

Graph 500 includes first symbols 510 (i.e., diamonds) that correspond tocurrent bids and second symbols 508 (i.e., squares) that correspond tocurrent offers. Curve 506 may represent the “fair value” curve withrespect to the current bids and offers shown in graph 500. In theexample shown, each of the bids and offers corresponds to a bid or anoffer for United States Agencies at a particular maturity date.

The user may desire to view information in connection with a specificbid and/or offer. In the example of FIG. 6, information overlay 600 isshown in connection with both a bid 604 and an offer 602 for a UnitedStates Agency having a maturity date of March 2009. Information overlay600 may be displayed in response to an interaction by the user. Forexample, the user may run a cursor over top of bid 604 and/or offer 602to view information overlay 600. Information overlay 600 shows theissue, coupon, maturity date, exact market spread, and size related tobid 604 and offer 602. In this example, the issue is “FHLMC,” or FederalHome Loan Mortgage Corporation (also known as “Freddie Mac”), the couponis “5 3/4,” the maturity date is “3/09,” or March 2009, the exact marketspread is “58.4/56.4,” and the size is “5×5.”

As described hereinabove, a user may place a trade directly from agraphical trading interface in accordance with the present invention.From graph 500 of FIG. 6, for example, the user may desire to place abid or offer or to submit a hit or lift in response to a particular bidor offer. In an example in which the user desires to place a bid oroffer, the user may select any portion of graph 500. In response to theuser's selection, the user may be provided with trading dialog boxoverlay 700 as shown in FIG. 7. Trading dialog box overlay 700 mayinclude price field 702 and size field 704, into which the user mayenter a desired price and size, respectively, for a particular financialinstrument. The user may then select either bid button 706 or offerbutton 708, depending on the desired transaction.

Referring back to FIG. 6, in an example in which the user desires tosubmit a hit or lift in response to a particular bid or offer,respectively the user may select any portion of graph 500. Preferably,the user selects one of a bid 604, an offer 602, or curve 506. Inresponse to the user's selection, the user may be provided with tradingdialog box overlay 700 as shown in FIG. 7. If the user selected a bid604, an offer 602, or curve 506, price field 702 and/or size field 704may be pre-filled with information corresponding to the selection. Ifone or both of price field 702 and size field 704 are not pre-filled, orif the user desires to alter the value in one or both of the fields, theuser may do so prior to selecting either buy button 710 or sell button712 to complete the transaction. Trading dialog box overlay 700 includesclose button 714 to allow the user to close the overlay and return tograph 500.

Graph 500 of FIGS. 5 and 6 is shown as having two axes (i.e., first axis502 and second axis 504). However, this example is merely illustrative,and as mentioned hereinabove, an illustrative example of a graph that isa “singularity” is shown in FIG. 8.

FIG. 8 shows various graphical trading interfaces that may be providedto a user by the graphical trading interface application in accordancewith the present invention. Graphical trading interfaces 800, 802, and804, or simply graphs 800, 802, and 804, are graphs having only one axiseach. Multiple graphs are shown at one time in FIG. 8 in contrast to,for example, FIG. 5, in which only one graph (i.e., graph 500) is shown.This is because graphs 800, 802, and 804 do not take up much space on adisplay (e.g., display 204 of workstation 102 (FIG. 2)). However, theexample of FIG. 8 is merely illustrative, and any suitable number ofgraphs that are singularities may be displayed at one time for a user(e.g., one, two, three, etc.).

As shown in drop-down title box 806, graph 800 represents a certainparameter (i.e., axis 808) in connection with a United States Agencyhaving a maturity date of “5/08,” or May 2008. The user may be providedwith a number of different graphs from which to choose. For example, theuser may select drop-down title box 806 to access a list of possiblegraphs (not shown). Graph 800 includes axis 808, which in this examplerepresents the spread between the yield for the United States Agencyhaving a maturity date of May 2008 and the United States Treasury havinga maturity date of May 2008. Graph 800 includes first symbol 812 (i.e.,a diamond) that corresponds to a current bid and second symbol 810(i.e., a square) that corresponds to a current offer for the UnitedStates Agency.

The information provided in graph 800 corresponds to a portion of theinformation provided in graph 500 (FIG. 5). For example, as shown inFIG. 5, the spread (i.e., second axis 504) for bid 508 and offer 510 fora United States Agency having a maturity date of May 2008 (i.e., firstaxis 502) is the same as the spread shown in graph 800 of FIG. 5, asrepresented by axis 808. Thus, while graph 500 (FIG. 5) shows the spreadover a span of maturity dates, as represented by axes 502 and 504, graph800 shows the spread for a particular maturity date, as represented byaxis 808.

The example of FIG. 8 has been described in connection with graph 800.However, it should be noted that graphs 802 and 804 have identicalfeatures to those described in connection with graph 800 (i.e., axis,first symbol, second symbol, drop-down title box). The differencebetween graphs 802 and 804, obviously, is that each of graphs 802 and804 represent the spread between the yield for a United States Agencyhaving a particular maturity date and a United States Treasury havingthe same maturity date.

From any of graphs 800, 802, and 804, the user may desire to place a bidor offer or to submit a hit or lift in response to a particular bid oroffer. As described hereinabove in connection with FIG. 6, the user maybe provided with a trading dialog box overlay (e.g., trading dialog boxoverlay 700 of FIG. 7) in response to the user's interaction with anyone of graphs 800, 802, and 804 (not shown). As described hereinabove,the trading dialog box may be pre-filled with information correspondingto the selection.

FIG. 9 shows a graphical trading interface that may be provided to theuser by the graphical trading interface application in accordance withthe present invention. Graphical trading interface 900, or simply graph900, provides the user with the ability to compare curves to oneanother, each curve representing a range of values of a financialinstrument, and to place a trade directly from the graph. In the exampleshown in FIG. 9, graph 900 includes a United States Treasury curve 902for treasuries having a maturity of ten years (“usg 10y”) and a UnitedStates Treasury curve 904 for treasuries having maturity of twenty years(“usg_(—)20y”). The user may be provided with a number of differentcurves from which to choose. For example, the user may select a firstcurve (e.g., curve 902) from drop-down title box 906 and a second curve(e.g., curve 904) from drop-down title box 908. Although only twodrop-down title boxes are shown, the user may be provided with anynumber of title boxes or other such options to display any number ofcurves for comparison in graph 900. Because graph 900 includes more thanone curve, a legend such as legend 910 may be included in order todifferentiate between different curves.

A comparison of curves, each curve representing a range of values of afinancial instrument, may provide a trader with a quick, accuraterepresentation of a market's current position. Preferably, the curvesshown in graph 900 are updated in real-time. In other words, and asdescribed in more detail in reference to FIG. 5, the curves shown ingraph 900 are updated as the graphical trading interface applicationkeeps up with some activity (e.g., changes in the yield of a financialinstrument, changes in available bids or offers for financialinstruments, etc.). As shown in FIG. 9, region 912 may be of particularinterest to a trader. In the example shown in the FIG., the ten-yearTreasuries represented by curve 902 are valued at a price that is higherthan expected, while the twenty-year Treasuries represented by curve 904are valued at a price that is lower than expected. Thus, the trader maydesire to capitalize on the anomalous situation quickly and easily.Specifically, the trader may desire to both sell ten-year Treasuries andbuy twenty-year Treasuries. To do so, the trader may select region 912of graph 900 and, in response to the selection, may be provided withtrading dialog box overlay 1000 as shown in FIG. 10.

Trading dialog box overlay 1000 may allow the trader to both buy andsell in response to an anomalous situation such as that shown in FIG. 9.Trading dialog box overlay 1000 may include a buy region 1002 and a sellregion 1004. Both buy and sell regions 1002 and 1004, respectively, maybe pre-filled with price and size information corresponding to region912 of graph 900 (FIG. 9). To place the trades, the user may select buybutton 1006 and sell button 1008.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart of illustrative steps involved in providing aninteractive graphical representation of a market in accordance with thepresent invention. At step 1100, a graph may be displayed. For example,a graph such as graph 300 (FIG. 3); graph 500 (FIG. 5); graph 802, 804,or 806 (FIG. 8); or graph 900 (FIG. 9) may be displayed. The graph maybe displayed on a display of a workstation, such as display 204 ofworkstation 102 (FIG. 2). At step 1102, a user may be allowed to selecta portion of the graph. In one example, in response to the user'sselection of a portion of the graph, a trading dialog box may bedisplayed at step 1104. For example, a trading dialog box such astrading dialog box 700 (FIG. 7) or trading dialog box 1000 (FIG. 10) maybe displayed. In another example, in response to the user's selection ofa portion of the graph, a trading dialog box may be displayed that ispre-filled with information that corresponds to the user-selectedportion of the graph (step 1106).

Thus, systems and methods for providing an interactive graphicalrepresentation of a market for an electronic trading system areprovided. One skilled in the art will realize that the present inventioncan be practiced by other than the described embodiments, which arepresented for purposes of illustration and not of limitation, and thatthe present invention is limited only by the claims which follow.

1. A method comprising the steps of: on a graphical user interfacedisplay of an electronic trading system, displaying a graph of two ormore financial instruments traded on the trading system, the graphcomprising: a first axis corresponding to a first parameter of thefinancial instruments, a second axis corresponding to a second parameterof the financial instruments, and a plot of a plurality of the financialinstruments on the two axes; accepting from a user a selection of atleast a portion of the graph, the selection of the portiondifferentiating the plurality of the financial instruments into selectedand non-selected instruments, the graphical user interface beingprogrammed to interpret the selection as a step in initiating a trade ofat least one of the selected financial instruments.
 2. The method ofclaim 1: wherein the first parameter corresponds to a price or yield;the method further comprising the step of updating the price or yieldfor each of the plurality of financial instruments in real time.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein: the financial instruments are fixed incomeinstruments.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein: the first parametercorresponds to a price or yield and the second parameter corresponds toa maturity date.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the stepof: receiving a selection of at least a portion of the graph anddisplaying, in response to the selection, a trading dialog boxcomprising at least one field for specifying a term for the trade. 6.The method of claim 5, wherein: the at least one field of the dialog boxcomprises at least one of a price and a size field.
 7. The method ofclaim 6, wherein: at least one of the price and size fields arepre-filled in response to the selection of the at least a portion of thegraph.
 8. The method of claim 5, wherein: the dialog box comprises atleast one button for submitting one of a bid, an offer, a buy, and asell command for a selected one of the plurality of the first type offinancial instruments.
 9. The method of claim 5, wherein: the graphicaluser interface is programmed to interpret the selection as a step ininitiating a bid to buy at least one of the selected financialinstruments, and an offer to sell another of the selected financialinstruments.
 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of:receiving a selection of a bid or an offer for at least one of theplurality of the first type of financial instruments and displaying, inresponse to the selection, a trading dialog box comprising at least onefield for specifying a term for the trade.
 11. The method of claim 5,wherein: the at least one field pre-filled in response to selection ofthe bid or the offer reflect price and/or size information reflectingtwo selected financial instruments; and the graphical user interface isprogrammed to interpret the selection as a step in initiating trades ofboth selected financial instruments.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein:the plot of the first type of financial instruments comprises a fairvalue curve.
 13. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:receiving a selection of a second type of financial instruments, thegraph comprising a plot of a plurality of the second type of financialinstruments.
 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising the step of:receiving a selection of at least a portion of the graph and displaying,in response to the selection, a trading dialog box comprising at leastone field for specifying a term to trade at least one of the pluralityof the first type of financial instrument and at least one field forspecifying a term to trade at least one of the plurality of the secondtype of financial instruments.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein: theselection received comprises a region of the graph.
 16. The method ofclaim 15, wherein: the at least one field for specifying a term to tradeat least one of the plurality of the first type of financial instrumentand the at least one field for specifying a term to trade at least oneof the plurality of the second type of financial instruments arepre-filled in response to the selection.
 17. A method for providing aninteractive graphical representation of a market comprising: displayinga graph on a display of a computer trading system, the graph beingdisplayed in response to receipt by the system of a selection of a typeof financial instrument, the graph comprising: a first axiscorresponding to a first parameter of a first type of financialinstrument, a second axis corresponding to a second parameter of thefirst type of financial instruments, and a plot of a plurality of thefirst type of financial instruments, respective curves of the pluralityof instruments being distinguishable in the plot on the first and secondaxes, at least a portion of the graph selectable by a user, selection ofthe selectable graph portion being interpreted by the computer tradingsystem as a command to initiate a trade of at least the first type offinancial instruments.
 18. A method comprising the steps of: displayinga graph on a graphical display of a computer trading system, the graphcomprising: a first axis corresponding to a price or yield parameter offinancial instruments traded on the computer trading system, a secondaxis corresponding to a maturity parameter of the financial instruments,and a plot of a plurality of the financial instruments, at least aportion of the graph selectable by a user of the graphical display, thecomputer trading system programmed to interpret the selection as acommand to initiate a trade of at least one of the selected financialinstruments; and displaying, in response to a selection of at least aportion of the graph, a trading dialog box for specifying at least oneterm for the trade, the trading dialog box comprising at least one of aprice field and a size field.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein atleast one of the price and size fields are pre-filled in response toselection of the at least a portion of the graph.
 20. The method ofclaim 18, wherein: the dialog box has fields to permit the user toinitiate a bid to buy a first selected financial instrument and an offerto sell a second of the selected financial instruments.
 21. A methodcomprising the steps of: displaying a graph on a display of a computertrading system, the graph being displayed in response to receipt by thesystem of a selection of an instrument that a user desires to trade, thegraph comprising: a first axis corresponding to a price or yieldparameter of the first and the second type of financial instruments, asecond axis corresponding to a maturity parameter of the first and thesecond type of financial instruments, a plot of a plurality of the firsttype of financial instruments, and a plot of a plurality of the secondtype of financial instruments, at least a portion of the graphselectable by a user, selection of the selectable graph portion beinginterpreted by the computer trading system as a command to initiate atrade of at least one of the plurality of the first and the second typeof financial instruments.
 22. The method of claim 21, comprisingdisplaying, in response to a selection of at least a portion of thegraph, a trading dialog box for specifying at least one term for thetrade, the trading dialog box comprising at least one of a price fieldand a size field.
 23. The method of claim 21, comprising receiving aselection of at least a portion of the graph and displaying, in responseto the selection, a trading dialog box comprising at least one field forspecifying a term to trade at least one of the plurality of the firsttype of financial instruments and at least one field for specifying aterm to trade at least one of the plurality of the second type offinancial instruments.